Martin Thompson's Outlook for 2019

As part of their 2019 Outlook, Canadian Underwriter spoke to RSA's CEO and President, Martin Thompson about the challenges ahead for the Canadian insurance industry, asking two essential questions:

1) What is the single most important change the industry must make looking forward into 2019? 2) How might this change be brought about?

See Martin's response below from the Canadian Underwriters 2019 Outlook.

"We as an industry must change how we manage catastrophic events and broken auto systems for customers across the country.

First, the impact of extreme weather on the lives of our customers and the industry's profitability is significant. As weather events become more frequent, our resources and capabilities will be tested. Our ability to respond is predicated on pricing and underwriting risk appropriately for these events.

As an industry, we don't operate in isolation. We must engage with external stakeholder groups, both provincially and federally, to ensure we are actively engaged in building resilience for the future.

Second, nationally, we operate in auto regimes that are failing insurers and consumers, creating a lose-lose situation - insurers that are unprofitable and customers who are paying too much. As an industry, we must recognize these trends proactively and react appropriately.

Within the auto sector, we have to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure we have systems in place that protect customers. Structurally inefficient operating systems drive cost leakage into the product, and create bad outcomes for both customers and insurers. We need auto systems that work for all parties involved. Regulatory and product change are essential."